


Hot Chocolate

by LieselSolo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hot Chocolate, Hurt/Comfort, Illnesses, Light Angst, Male Friendship, Minor Leia Organa/Han Solo, Planet Hoth (Star Wars), Pre-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Sick Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29274534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LieselSolo/pseuds/LieselSolo
Summary: On Hoth, Han gets pneumonia, which leads to Luke worrying, concern from Leia, and a beverage bringing them closer together.
Relationships: Leia Organa/Han Solo, Luke Skywalker & Han Solo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	Hot Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Star Wars. And yes, hot chocolate DOES exist in the Star Wars universe - it's mentioned in at least one novel and one comic.

“How does anyone stand this? It’s FREEZING!”

It was pitch-dark in the tiny bunker Luke and Han shared, but Han didn’t need to see the kid to imagine him shivering like hell and wrapping himself up in the blankets like a cocoon. “Yeah kid, it’s freezing. That’s what happens when you dig a Rebel Base in the freakin’ _ice.”_

“Why’d we settle _here_ of all places?” Luke whimpered.

“I dunno, ask Her Royal Highness that.” Truthfully, Han too was shivering under the covers he’d wrapped himself up in despite the supposed thermal pajamas he was wearing. _Thermal pajamas my ass._ What good were thermal pajamas when the icy air crept through microscopic gaps in everything? He folded his arms and stuck his fingers in his armpits in hope of getting a bit of extra heat, but that did little good.

Damn, this must be absolute _hell_ for the kid who grew up in the desert.

“Han?”

“Yeah?”

“Did you find any life on that scouting run?”

Han snickered lightly to himself, though it ended up coming out as a cough. Leave it to the kid to wonder if there were any native settlements who might be suffering through the cold. “Nope. Out in the icy hell for hours and nothin’ to show for it. I don’t think any sentient beings in their right mind would settle _here._ But hey, maybe sometime you can go scouting too. Least it might help you get used to the cold.”

“I don’t think I _want_ to get used to it.” The kid blew air out of his mouth, possibly trying to warm up his hands. “You know what would be great right now?”

“Besides _not_ bein’ on a frozen hellscape?”

“Hot chocolate.”

Another cough escaped, this one rougher than the last. “Hot chocolate?”

“Yeah. I’ve never had it, but I hear it’s the perfect drink to warm you up on cold nights. Have you ever had it?”

“Can’t say I have, but I’d imagine it takes like chocolate, only . . . hot.”

“Yeah,” Luke said dreamily. “I’ll bet that would be perfect right now. Maybe the next supply run could try to pick some up.”

Han yawned. “Not likely that a sweet drink would be high on their priority list, kid.”

“I know, I know, but there’s nothing wrong with daydreaming when you’re freezing your butt off.”

Han had to laugh at that, though it turned into another cough. Damn, his throat felt scratchy. Tomorrow he’d need to drink some extra water. At least it was easy to get _water_ on this planet by melting snow and then purifying it.

“Are you okay?” Luke asked.

“Yeah,” said Han, clearing his throat. “Just freezing.” He yawned again. “But freezing or not, Her Highness will expect us to get up in the morning.”

“Fine,” said Luke, blowing air out of his mouth again. “Good night, Han. Maybe we can dream about hot chocolate.”

“Maybe. Night, kid.”

. . .

Luke woke shivering, blinking his eyes open and realizing that the lights were on, which meant it was morning. He also realized that in his sleep his hand had slipped out from under the covers. Upon tucking it back under the covers and rubbing over it with his other hand, he flinched at the realization that it felt like he was squeezing ice. He ground his teeth, taking several deep breaths as he massaged his hand, slowly bringing the feeling back into it.

He _really_ hated Hoth.

His hand was stinging slightly, but no matter how much he wanted to stay under the covers, his stomach was growling and he didn’t want to miss breakfast. With a grunt, he forced himself to get out of bed and realized that Han was still asleep, his entire body bundled in the covers except for his face, his mouth emitting rough, choppy snores.

“Hey Han,” he said, sauntering over to his friend’s bed, “you’d better get up before Leia starts banging on our door!”

No answer.

“Han?” Luke grabbed his friend’s shoulder and started gently shaking. “Han, it’s time to get up!”

Han’s eyes opened, but only slightly, revealing redness at the edges of them. He opened his mouth only for a cough to come out – a lengthy, hacking cough.

“Han?” Luke repeated, placing the hand that hadn’t slipped out of the covers on Han’s forehead.

It was burning.

With that, Luke rushed out of the bunker, not caring about the cold, not caring that he was clad in thermal pajamas and wool socks, not caring about anything except _getting help for Han._

. . .

Luke found Leia discussing something or other with General Rieekan, a holographic star map lit up in front of them. They both gave him odd stares when he came rushing up to them, but again he didn’t care.

“Something’s wrong with Han!” he shouted so fast that the words ran together.

“Han?” Leia’s voice was steady, though Luke could detect a hint of worry in it.

“I think he’s sick,” said Luke, struggling to keep his composure. “He’s coughing up a storm and burning up with a fever.”

“Are you sure?” asked Leia.

“Of COURSE I’m sure! He needs help!”

Leia raised her hands in a calming gesture. “All right, all right, I’ll call the medical droids to look at him. Where is he now?”

“Still in bed,” said Luke, unable to keep his breath from increasing its tempo. “I mean, he was coughing some last night, but I thought it was just because of the cold, I didn’t think . . .”

Now Rieekan was putting a hand on Luke’s shoulder. “It’s going to be all right, son. Right now you should get dressed and get some breakfast.”

“But, Han . . .”

“You can see him as soon as he’s been examined, but in case he has something contagious, you’d better stay away from him until then.”

Luke glanced over at Leia, seeing that she was already on the comm. “Yes, Captain Solo seems to be ill,” she was saying in her no-nonsense princess voice. “No, I don’t know with what. Commander Skywalker says he’s still in bed, so get someone over there. Yes, now!”

. . .

After a light breakfast, Luke rushed over to the medbay to see how Han was doing. He was greeted by one of the 2-1B medical droids, who looked at him with an unemotional dark gray face that resembled an air mask.

“Commander Skywalker,” the droid said in a low, even voice, “what are you doing here?”

“How’s Han?”

“Captain Solo has pneumonia,” the droid said matter-of-factly, as if he were merely reporting the weather.

“Nu . . . what?”

“An infection in his lungs, likely caused by bacteria in his system that was boosted by the cold.”

“Will he be all right?”

“He requires bed rest, but if no complications occur, he should make a full recovery.”

Luke let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Can I see him?”

“Only if you keep your distance in case he is contagious.”

Luke gulped. “But . . . well, I’ve already been exposed. We share a room and I touched him to see if he had a fever. And . . . oh no, the princess and the general were exposed to _me!”_

The droid stared at him, making him wish that 2-1B droids had more expressive faces. Even 3PO was more expressive than this droid. “Then allow me to give you an examination,” the droid said. “I must request that you stay here for the rest of the day so I can monitor you, but if you show no symptoms, you may leave tomorrow. I will also have to examine the princess and the general.”

Luke nodded. “Can I still see Han?”

“After the examination.”

. . .

Luke’s examination revealed no signs of illness, but the droid still insisted that he stay in the medbay for the rest of the day, and when he finally was allowed to see Han, the droid instructed him to stay in the doorway of the room where they were keeping him and not actually enter the room.

Han was lying in the medical bed, still in those thermal pajamas, an IV stuck up his arm, his face drenched in sweat, his eyes barely open. “Hey kid,” he coughed out in a raspy voice.

“How are you feeling?” It was a stupid question, but Luke couldn’t think of anything else to say.

“Been better,” said Han. “But hey, no scouting in the frozen hell for a while . . .” His voice broke down in coughs yet again and Luke had to restrain himself from running up to his friend.

“If I could, I’d give you some hot chocolate,” said Luke.

Han gave a raspy chuckle. “So now hot chocolate cures pneumonia?”

“Probably not, but it might soothe your throat – you know, so long as it wasn’t _too_ hot.”

Han leaned back into his pillow, closing his eyes. “Dunno if I’d be able to _taste_ it, though.”

“Well,” said Luke, forcing a smile, “you said it probably tastes like chocolate, only hot. If you couldn’t taste it, you could imagine that’s what it tastes like.”

. . .

After an examination and a look into her medical records to show that she was inoculated against the bacteria that had likely made Han sick, Leia was free to leave the medical ward. Though she had to get back to her post, she found herself heading to the room where Han was being kept. Not because she was worried about him or anything, but as a leader of the Rebellion it was her duty to check in on sick members.

Han appeared to be sleeping, but he looked like a _wreck._ His face was flushed red, his hair and clothes damp with sweat, and coughs were forcing their way out of his mouth with every other breath. Leia found herself stepping closer to the bed, but with the sound of her footsteps, his eyes opened, causing her to freeze in place.

“Hey sweetheart,” he coughed out, giving a pained grin.

Normally that greeting would cause her to give a snarky remark back at him, but given his condition, Leia opted to simply ignore it. “How are you feeling, Han?”

“Better with you here,” Han said dreamily. “Did ya come cause you were worried about me?”

“I came to see how you were doing,” said Leia, doing her best to keep her authoritative voice.

“So you _were_ worried.”

“It’s my responsibility to know the health status of _everyone_ here, especially if a disease could start spreading around the base.”

That pained grin was back. “Then shouldn’t you be stayin’ away from me, princess?”

“I’m inoculated.”

A torrent of coughs escaped out of Han’s mouth before he could respond, making Leia almost want to grab hold of him and steady him. Almost. “Well . . . then you could gimmie a kiss to help me feel better.”

“Yeah, I could – if you were _five.”_

Now Han was giving an exaggerated frown. “C’mon, a kiss might help.”

“No.”

Another torrent of coughs before Han could speak again. “Weeellll . . .” His voice was slurring a bit, almost like he was drunk. “. . . how about some hot chocolate?”

“Hot chocolate?”

“Yeeeaah . . . Luke was talkin’ . . . bout it . . . I’ve never had it . . .”

Leia sighed, putting a hand on her hip and shaking her head. “You’re loopy from the drugs.”

“You ever had . . . hot chocolate?”

Suddenly Leia’s throat felt tight. “Yes. We’d often have it on winter nights back on Alderaan.”

“Weeellll ain’t that . . . all the more reason . . . toooo get some?” His voice dissolved into more coughs.

Leia let out another sigh, trying not to think of those nights during her childhood when she and her parents would make hot chocolate and drink it in front of the fireplace. “All right, I think you should get some sleep.”

“Sleep . . . yeah. Sleep is good . . .” said Han, blinking slowly at her. “Tuck me in?”

 _“Tuck you in?”_ Leia exclaimed. _“Are_ you five?”

“C’mon, please?”

Leia groaned, but realizing that Han was in a drug-induced daze and might not even remember this later, she grabbed the edge of his covers and gently pulled them up to his shoulders. “There, you’re tucked in. Now sleep.”

That seemed to satisfy him, since he sank down into the pillow and closed his eyes, a small smile on his face despite the coughs that were still pushing their way out of him. Hopefully he’d wake up feeling a bit better.

And hopefully he’d think that he’d just dreamed of Leia tucking him in.

. . .

It was two weeks before Han’s fever started to go down and his cough started getting better. Though he was still confined to the medical ward, he was deemed no longer contagious and healthy enough to have extended visits.

“You’re looking good, buddy,” Luke said as he sat beside Han’s bed.

“Yeah,” said Han, “but that means soon I’ll be goin’ on those damn scouting runs again.”

“Ugh,” Luke said with a flinch. _“I’ve_ been going on them – after they gave me some shots so it would be less likely that _I’d_ get pneumonia. Every time I go outside I feel like an ice block after five minutes.”

“Yeah,” said Han. “Well soon we can go on ‘em together and complain about the cold to each other.”

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, followed by a familiar female voice asking “Is Han decent?”

Luke gave Han a wide-eyed look at which Han couldn’t help laughing even though the laugh broke into tiny coughs. “Yes, Your Highness,” he said after the coughs subsided. “You ain’t gonna see anything you don’t wanna see.”

The door slid open and in came Leia, carrying a tray on which there sat three mugs filled with some sort of steaming hot beverage. “I thought we could celebrate Han being almost back to normal.”

“What’s that?” Luke asked. “It smells good.”

“Oh, something I had our last supply run pick up – though I was still amazed that they actually got some. It’s just the powdered kind, though – and it’s dissolved in hot water instead of milk. It’s much better with milk, but you’ll probably like it anyway.”

“You mean that’s _hot chocolate?”_ Luke’s face lit up like a child getting a present.

Leia sat on the foot of Han’s bed, placing the tray on her lap. “Well . . . Han asked for it when he was sick – though he was all hazy from the drugs, so he might not remember it.”

“You mean when you tucked me in?” Han couldn’t stop a cheeky grin from creeping across his face.

Leia probably would have jumped in her seat if she didn’t have a tray of hot beverages in her lap. “You _remember_ that?”

“Wondered if I’d dreamed it,” said Han, “but you just confirmed that I didn’t.”

“You tucked Han in?” Luke exclaimed.

“He _asked_ me to!” Leia protested. “He was sick, I felt sorry for him, that’s all!”

“Sure, sure,” said Han, “you just keep tellin’ yourself that.”

Leia groaned, rolling her eyes. “If you don’t behave, you don’t get any hot chocolate.”

“Fine, fine, I can behave.”

She held up the tray so Luke and Han could easily reach it and they each took a mug. Though Han’s sinuses weren’t completely back to normal, he could still catch the sweet, rich smell. He blew on in several times just in case it would irritate his throat, then took a sip.

“It’s _delicious!”_ Luke exclaimed, but Han remained quiet as he let the drink settle in his stomach, spreading its warmth through his body. He took another sip, savoring the sweet taste, maybe like chocolate but hot . . . but no, that wasn’t quite it.

It tasted like . . . _comfort._

“Where has this drink been all my life?” he murmured.

“Here,” said Luke, raising his mug, “let’s toast to Han getting better and a victory for the Rebels!”

“All right,” said Leia, raising her own mug. “To a victory for the Rebels . . . _and_ Han getting better.”

“Well, we might be a lost cause, but I guess a toast to victory won’t hurt,” said Han, raising his mug and clinking it with the other two.

The three shared a laugh before downing the rest of their hot chocolate, and in that moment Han could almost feel like they _might_ win the war.

Especially if they kept a supply of hot chocolate to keep morale up.

THE END


End file.
